STRONG WORKFORCE IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING
Version as of 1/6/16
BACKGROUND: The California Community Colleges Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation and a Strong Economy (to be referred to as ‘Strong Workforce’ Task Force) put forth 25 recommendations to strengthen workforce education throughout the 113 college system with the goal of closing the skills gap that is a barrier to filling existing jobs and fueling job creation. The Task Force goal was to identify and recommend policies and practices to meet California’s anticipated shortage of one million industry-valued middle skill credentials. The 25 recommendations built upon the groundwork established under the Student Success Initiative and Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy, and represent the culmination of extensive input from more than 1,200 stakeholders during a nine-month period to identify recommended actions. In September 2015, these recommendations were presented to the Board of Governors as an informational item. At its November 2015 meeting, the Board adopted all 25 recommendations.
The Report & Recommendations of the Task Force can be found at http://bit.ly/TaskForcereport. The expert background papers informing Task Force deliberations can be found at:
1. Workforce Data & Outcomes http://bit.ly/onboardingoutcomes
2. Curriculum & Instruction http://bit.ly/onboardingcurriculum
3. Structured Career Pathways & Student Support Part 1 http://bit.ly/onboardingpathway1
4. Structured Career Pathways & Student Support Part 2 http://bit.ly/onboardingpathway2
5. Regional Coordination http://bit.ly/onboardingregionalcoord
6. Funding http://bit.ly/onboardingfunding
COMPLETED DURING 4Q2015:
The implementation phase of these recommendations began with the following steps:
· Identified whether action is a legislative, budget, regulatory and/or administrative approach.
· Seeded legislative and budget actions into standing Chancellor’s Office processes for the 2016-17 cycle.
· Assigned a lead Vice Chancellor per item, recognizing that many recommendations cross multiple divisions within the Chancellor’s Office and involves standing bodies across the system.
· Secured a technical assistance provider (TAP) team.
· Reconstituted advisory body of the Division of Workforce & Economic Development to also advise on strong workforce implementation.
· Created implementation section on doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/StrongWorkforce.aspx.
VERSION 1:
The Strong Workforce Task Force identified twenty five recommendations grouped under seven areas:
STUDENT SUCCESS1. Broaden and enhance career exploration and planning, work-based learning opportunities, and other supports for students.
2. Improve CTE student progress and outcomes.
CAREER PATHWAY
3. Develop and broadly publicize industry-informed career pathways that prepare students for jobs needed within the regional labor market.
WORKFORCE DATA & OUTCOMES
4. Create common workforce metrics for all state-funded CTE programs and expand the definition of student success to better reflect the wide array of CTE outcomes of community college students.
5. Establish a student identifier for high school students and those enrolled in postsecondary education and training programs to enable California to track workforce progress and outcomes for students across institutions and programs.
6. Improve the quality, accessibility, and utility of student outcome and labor market data to support students, educators, colleges, regions, employers, local workforce investment boards, and the state in CTE program development and improvement efforts.
CURRICULUM
7. Evaluate, strengthen, and revise the curriculum development process to ensure alignment from education to employment.
8. Evaluate, revise and resource the local, regional, and statewide CTE curriculum approval process to ensure timely, responsive, and streamlined curriculum approval.
9. Improve program review, evaluation, and revision processes to ensure program relevance to students, business, and industry as reflected in labor market data.
10. Facilitate curricular portability across institutions.
11. Develop, identify and disseminate effective CTE practices.
12. Clarify practices and address issues of course repetition for CTE courses when course content evolves to meet changes in skill requirements.
CTE FACULTY
13. Increase the pool of qualified CTE instructors by addressing CTE faculty recruitment and hiring practices.
14. Consider options for meeting minimum qualifications to better integrate industry professionals who possess significant experience into CTE instructional programs.
15. Enhance professional development opportunities for CTE faculty to maintain industry and program relevance.
16. Explore solutions to attract industry professionals in high-salaried occupations to become CTE faculty in community colleges.
REGIONAL COORDINATION
17. Strengthen communication, coordination, and decision-making between regional CTE efforts and the colleges to meet regional labor market needs.
18. Clarify and modify, as appropriate, state regulations to allow colleges to regionalize course articulation along career pathways utilizing regional or state curriculum models.
19. Develop regional leadership and operational partnerships among community college, industry, labor, and other workforce and economic development entities to improve the delivery of all CTE efforts.
20. Develop robust connections between community colleges, business and industry representatives, labor and other regional workforce development partners to align college programs with regional and industry needs and provide support for CTE programs.
FUNDING
21. Create a sustained, public outreach campaign to industry, high school students, counselors, parents, faculty, staff, and the community at large to promote career development and attainment and the value of career technical education.
22. Establish a sustained funding source to increase community colleges’ capacity to create, adapt, and maintain quality CTE courses and programs that are responsive to regional labor market needs.
23. Create a predictable, targeted, and sustained funding stream that leverages multiple local, state, and federal CTE and workforce funds to support an infrastructure for collaboration at the state, regional and local levels; establish regional funding of program start-up and innovation; and develop other coordination activities.
24. Review, analyze, and modify, as needed, laws and regulations related to student fees for disposable and consumable materials and CTE facilities.
25. Create incentives and streamline processes to maximize public and private investment in support of CTE programs.
VERSION 2:
The Strong Workforce Task Force identified twenty five recommendations grouped under seven areas. Below lists the type of action by the Chancellor’s Office to implement the recommendations:
Type of Action
STUDENT SUCCESS1. Broaden and enhance career exploration and planning, work-based learning opportunities, and other supports for students. / Administrative
Budget
Legislative
2. Improve CTE student progress and outcomes. / Administrative
Regulatory
CAREER PATHWAY
3. Develop and broadly publicize industry-informed career pathways that prepare students for jobs needed within the regional labor market. / Administrative
WORKFORCE DATA & OUTCOMES
4. Create common workforce metrics for all state-funded CTE programs and expand the definition of student success to better reflect the wide array of CTE outcomes of community college students. / Administrative
Legislative
5. Establish a student identifier for high school students and those enrolled in postsecondary education and training programs to enable California to track workforce progress and outcomes for students across institutions and programs. / Administrative
Legislative
6. Improve the quality, accessibility, and utility of student outcome and labor market data to support students, educators, colleges, regions, employers, local workforce investment boards, and the state in CTE program development and improvement efforts. / Administrative
CURRICULUM
7. Evaluate, strengthen, and revise the curriculum development process to ensure alignment from education to employment. / Administrative
Regulatory
8. Evaluate, revise and resource the local, regional, and statewide CTE curriculum approval process to ensure timely, responsive, and streamlined curriculum approval. / Administrative
9. Improve program review, evaluation, and revision processes to ensure program relevance to students, business, and industry as reflected in labor market data. / Administrative
10. Facilitate curricular portability across institutions. / Administrative
Regulatory
11. Develop, identify and disseminate effective CTE practices. / Administrative
12. Clarify practices and address issues of course repetition for CTE courses when course content evolves to meet changes in skill requirements. / Administrative
Legislative
CTE FACULTY
13. Increase the pool of qualified CTE instructors by addressing CTE faculty recruitment and hiring practices. / Administrative
14. Consider options for meeting minimum qualifications to better integrate industry professionals who possess significant experience into CTE instructional programs. / Administrative
Regulatory
15. Enhance professional development opportunities for CTE faculty to maintain industry and program relevance. / Administrative
Regulatory
16. Explore solutions to attract industry professionals in high-salaried occupations to become CTE faculty in community colleges. / Administrative
REGIONAL COORDINATION
17. Strengthen communication, coordination, and decision-making between regional CTE efforts and the colleges to meet regional labor market needs. / Administrative
18. Clarify and modify, as appropriate, state regulations to allow colleges to regionalize course articulation along career pathways utilizing regional or state curriculum models. / Regulatory
19. Develop regional leadership and operational partnerships among community college, industry, labor, and other workforce and economic development entities to improve the delivery of all CTE efforts. / Administrative
Budget
20. Develop robust connections between community colleges, business and industry representatives, labor and other regional workforce development partners to align college programs with regional and industry needs and provide support for CTE programs. / Administrative
FUNDING
21. Create a sustained, public outreach campaign to industry, high school students, counselors, parents, faculty, staff, and the community at large to promote career development and attainment and the value of career technical education. / Budget
22. Establish a sustained funding source to increase community colleges’ capacity to create, adapt, and maintain quality CTE courses and programs that are responsive to regional labor market needs. / Budget
23. Create a predictable, targeted, and sustained funding stream that leverages multiple local, state, and federal CTE and workforce funds to support an infrastructure for collaboration at the state, regional and local levels; establish regional funding of program start-up and innovation; and develop other coordination activities. / Budget
24. Review, analyze, and modify, as needed, laws and regulations related to student fees for disposable and consumable materials and CTE facilities. / Budget
Legislative
25. Create incentives and streamline processes to maximize public and private investment in support of CTE programs. / Administrative
Legislative
VERSION 3:
The Strong Workforce Task Force identified twenty five recommendations grouped under seven areas. Below lists the type of action by the Chancellor’s Office to implement the recommendations and the Vice Chancellor in the lead for that item’s implementation:
Recommendation Type of Action Lead Vice Chancellor
STUDENT SUCCESSBroaden and enhance career exploration and planning, work-based learning opportunities, and other supports for students.
1a. Provide resources for student support and career center services to raise the awareness of career planning and provide information to high school, adult education and community college students on labor market demand and earnings potential. / Administrative
Budget / Noldon
1b. Develop and implement common, effective career and educational planning tools for high school, adult education and community college counselors to provide detailed and comprehensive information, resources, and support on career awareness, preparation, and exploration; CTE pathway and education planning; workplace-readiness skills; work-based learning opportunities; and local and regional employer needs and job requirements. / Administrative / Feist
1c. Work with industry, labor, and workforce boards to develop and coordinate work-based learning opportunities, including internships and apprenticeships. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
1d. Collaborate with workforce boards to enhance capacity to provide career counseling, job placement, and supportive services. / Administrative / Noldon
1e. Enhance capacity of counselors to provide CTE-related program counseling through professional development and the sharing of best practices such as designating counselors as CTE specific or designating liaisons to CTE programs. / Administrative / Noldon
1f. Support efforts to increase financial support under the Cal Grant C program for community college CTE students. / Legislative / Stewart
Improve CTE student progress and outcomes.
2a. Enable and support faculty to coordinate with industry to identify required work-based and skill competencies, including technology, for specified occupations in order to facilitate student advancement through mechanisms such as authentic competency-based assessments. / Administrative
Regulatory / Ton-Quinlivan
2b. Support faculty in contextualizing basic skills, work readiness and technology skills into CTE programs and embedding career-related content into general education courses. / Administrative / Walker
Recommendation Type of Action Lead Vice Chancellor
CAREER PATHWAYDevelop and broadly publicize industry-informed career pathways that prepare students for jobs needed within the regional labor market.
3a. Support faculty and colleges to design pathways with multiple entry and exit points that correspond to industry-recognized credentials. / Administrative / Walker
3b. Develop state-aligned or regionally-aligned strategies and structured industry-informed pathways, coordinated with faculty and other workforce partners and industry intermediaries, that seamlessly transition high school and adult students to community college programs of study. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
3c. Ensure career pathways meet the needs of displaced workers, veterans, English language learners and other adult populations. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
3d. Support faculty to develop and align model CTE curricula that facilitate articulation, dual enrollment and CTE pathways / Administrative / Walker
3e. Identify and resolve barriers as appropriate to career pathway implementation / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
3f. Provide resources to faculty to contextualize basic skills English, math, English as a Second Language, and workplace readiness skills into pathway curricula in collaboration with faculty trained in basic skills disciplines / Administrative / Walker
3g. Enable and encourage faculty to develop applied English and math courses that meet both CTE and associate degree requirements. / Administrative / Walker
3h. Support the ongoing development and implementation of current initiatives to develop programs of study tools for bridging from high school and adult education preparation into community college CTE pathways in order to help community college students plan their CTE course taking. / Administrative / Walker
Recommendation Type of Action Lead Vice Chancellor
WORKFORCE DATA & OUTCOMESCreate common workforce metrics for all state-funded CTE programs and expand the definition of student success to better reflect the wide array of CTE outcomes of community college students.
4a. Develop, streamline, and align common outcome metrics for all state-funded CTE programs and ensure that they are compatible with federal reporting requirements. / Legislative / Stewart
4b. Expand the definition of student success to better address workforce training outcomes for both “completers” (students who attain certificates, including low-unit certificates, defined as fewer than 12 units; degrees; transfer-readiness; or enrollment in four-year institutions) and "skills builders” (workers who are maintaining and adding to skill sets required for ongoing employment and career advancement). / Administrative / Tena (interim)
4.c. Report outcomes by student demographic characteristics. / Administrative / Tena (interim)
Establish a student identifier for high school students and those enrolled in postsecondary education and training programs to enable California to track workforce progress and outcomes for students across institutions and programs.
5a. Require the sharing of employment/wage outcomes and third party licenses/certification data across government entities. / Legislative / Stewart
5b. Explore barriers, both real and perceived, to sharing data and create new incentives for the timely sharing of data. / Administrative / Tena (interim)
5c. Ensure data sharing activities are for the purpose of continuous program improvement, while also protecting privacy rights. / Administrative / Tena (interim)
Improve the quality, accessibility, and utility of student outcome and labor market data to support students, educators, colleges, regions, employers, local workforce investment boards, and the state in CTE program development and improvement efforts.
6a. Provide labor market, workforce outcome, and student demographic data/information that are easily accessible and usable. / Administrative / Tena (interim)
6b. Validate labor market supply and demand information with industry partners. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
6c. Provide technical assistance, data visualization tools, and analysis tools to colleges for the use of labor market and student outcome data. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
6d. Develop the state’s capacity to capture changes and gaps in workforce supply and demand and to assess each region’s educational capacity to address workforce gaps. / Administrative / Ton-Quinlivan
Recommendation Type of Action Lead Vice Chancellor